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This world is so new, so exciting. And I can see all of it. Everything flows through me. I know the secrets of your kings. But none of it compares to having form again. To be able to walk... to touch... to kill.
―Moloch the Corruptor[src]

Moloch the Corruptor, alias Malcolm Black was a demon who charmed and mesmerized his victims with promises of love, power and knowledge.

Biography

The 15th Century

Do you love me? I will give you everything. All I want is your love.
―Moloch[src]
File:Moloch the corruptor trapped.jpg

Moloch getting trapped in a book in 1418

Moloch originally lived in Cortona in Italy, 1418, where he apparently mesmerized and killed several of the town's denizens. Just after Moloch killed a young man, an order of monks led by Brother Thelonius trapped Moloch in a tome through the Circle of Kayless, hoping the book would never be found in fear that it would release Moloch.

Malcom

Over five hunderd years later in 1997, the librarian of Sunnydale HighRupert Giles, somehow aquired the book used to trap Moloch. Moloch was accidentally released when Willow Rosenberg scanned the book's text, thus activating the release spell that bound him to the book. Under normal circumstances, Moloch would have emerged back into the real world when his book was read, but due to the unique nature of his release in this instance, he was instead released onto the Internet.

Moloch the corruptor screened

Moloch appears to the Scooby Gang on a computer screen

Now in virtually complete control of potentially any computer system he could access, Moloch went on to woo Willow while posing as an eighteen-year-old boy called Malcolm Black, simultaneously 'recruiting' Willow's fellow "computer geeks" David Kirby and Fritz Siegel. He also charmed the scientists of Calax Research and Development to help him as he attempted to construct a new body for himself, eventually constructing a powerful robotic body while retaining a 'wireless' connection to the Internet that allowed him to access any information he wanted. Meanwhile, he had Fritz follow Buffy Summers when the Slayer began investigation "Malcolm" and then ordered him to kill her. Moloch also had Fritz kill Dave when the latter had a qualm of conscience after the attempted murder of the Slayer

Destruction 

I was omnipotent! I was everything! Now I'm trapped in this shell...
―Moloch[src]
File:Moloch head.jpg

Moloch's robotic head after his destruction

He claimed to genuinely love Willow due to her releasing him into this new world, bringing her to his facility after the completion of his new body and offering her a place at his side in his new world order, but attempted to kill her after she rejected him. Aided by techno-pagan Jenny Calendar, Giles attempted to bind Moloch back in the book- using a Circle of Kayless based on Jenny's Internet contacts as they lacked the available people to form a physical circle-, but the spell initially simply cut Moloch off from the Internet, and trapped him in the robotic body instead. In the ensuing confrontation, Buffy tricked Moloch into punching into a circuit breaker, overloading the body's circuits and causing it to explode, killing him.

Power and Abilities

A very deadly and seductive demon. He draws people to him with promises of love, power, knowledge. Preys on impressionable minds.
―Rupert Giles[src]
File:Moloch the corruptor angry.jpg

Moloch in his robotic body

File:Moloch.png

Superhuman strength: As a demon, Moloch was capable of superhuman feats of strength in his physical form as he was able snap someone's neck with a single hand.

Mind Alteration: Moloch had the ability to mesmerize and influence the minds of humans, making them believe they loved him and was able to make them perform objectional acts for him such as murder. He apparently could activate this power simply by speaking to them during physical form, and it appeared to carry on in his digital form. According to Giles, this power only seemed to work on impressionable minds and its effects varied between individuals as Fritz became totally devoted to him while Dave, who at first was loyal, betrayed Moloch when he couldn't bring himself to kill Buffy (Willow also broke free from his spell after it became clear that he was evil, but it should be noted that she never knew he was a demon until she met him directly).

Technopathy: While digitized Moloch could take control any electronic system wired to the internet. The Scooby Gang theorized that Moloch could cause all kinds of castrophies with this power such as malfunctioning medical equipment, randomize traffic signals, access launch codes for nuclear missiles and ruin the world economy. This power gave him some sort of omnipotence, able to make a man from Beijing transfers money to a Swiss bank account for a contract on his mother's life. 

Robotic body: In his robotic body, he possessed physical strength sufficient enough to punch through solid walls, and take a jumping kick from Buffy without even flinching.

Behind the Scenes

  • He was portrayed by Michael Deak and voiced by Mark Deakins.
  • Moloch is believed to be the name of an ancient Caananite deity, largely associated with human sacrifice, particularly the sacrifice of infants.  He is best remembered for a Biblical verse in which the ancient Israelites are forbidden from sacrificing their children to Moloch.  So little is known about Moloch that some scholars believe the word refers not to an individual god, but rather the ritual of human sacrifice.

Appearances

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